The 1st District congresswoman issued her statement after the U.S. Labor Department said Monday that LePage violated terms of federal laws governing money used to pay for most of the mural’s $60,000 cost when he removed the artwork.

“The best solution at this point would be to put the mural back up so Maine taxpayers won’t have to cover the original grant,” Pingree said. “Public art belongs to all of us and I don’t think the governor should have acted so hastily in taking it down. It wasn’t a decision for one person.”

Writing for theMaineteaparty.com website, Ashcroft called the senators the “gang of eight” and “a bunch of R.I.N.O.s” — Republicans in name only — and suggests working for their removal from office in the next election.

“What’s the matter with these people, don’t they realize that we should all stick together and back the Governor?” Ashcroft wrote.

The Maine Republican Party continued its online diatribe, labeling the $60,000 piece of artwork a waste of public funds. Emails circulated by the party even injected a bit of humor into the furor, inviting readers to paint themselves into the mural through a web link.